Recently I saw a newspaper headline that revealed some of
the delusion
that grips the public mind of America today. It declared
that "the system
failed" a young man in our state who is now in great
trouble. The young
man was a minor on trial as an adult for murder. You see,
people had
sought the help of whatever state agency fixes wayward
children, but that
agency, and therefore the state, and consequently society
as a whole,
"the system," had failed to give him enough help to keep
him from killing
somebody. It's a story we hear over and over again.
Something bad
happened because the system we have constructed and
financed to keep bad
things from happening somehow had failed! What a wild
delusion—the belief
that men can construct a system that can prevent calamity!
It is a false
notion, but it is widely believed.
What does the media do whenever anything really bad
happens? If there is
a fire that takes somebody's life, they check the records
to see when the
building was last inspected. When there is a school
shooting, they see if
the teachers had detected any "signs" that the shooters
were about to
shoot or if the school had handled properly any problems
that might have
"precipitated" the bloodshed. When child abuse is
discovered, they want
to see the files of the child-protection department to see
if evidence of
abuse had previously been overlooked, and if anything had
been done to
prevent the harm that had finally been done. When an
earthquake brings
buildings down, had the codes been enforced? Whenever
anybody shoots
anybody, why was the gun not registered and regulated? When
there is a
suicide, where were the counselors and self-esteem
promoters at the
workplace, or the school? If something goes wrong, it must
be because the
system failed, people think.
That's why such a big part of any service professional's
job is
paperwork. Doctors, teachers, fire inspectors, social
workers, and
counselors of all kinds, must have documented proof that
the system did
not fail at their end of it. A paper trail shows the
investigator just
what was done about any complaints that could point to
coming disaster.
That paper trail is very, very important because, when the
calamity
comes, everybody wants to know where and how the system
failed, and who
was responsible for the failure! People have lost their
jobs because they
failed to follow the prescribed procedure, and thus caused
the system to
fail and calamity to occur. Calamity comes only when the
system fails,
and the system fails only when somebody in it doesn't do
his job.
Therefore the blame for any calamity can usually be traced
to some
negligent or disobedient service professional who must be
punished.
That's what a lot of people think. That's why paperwork is
often more
important than people-work to professions in social work,
unfortunately.
But there is something wrong with this thinking.
Just when we began to believe that America could put
together a system to
prevent calamity, it is hard to determine. Some of the
"Great Society"
programs created by the federal government in the 1960s
certainly had
such ambitions, but "the system" really began sooner. For
decades, maybe
over a century, public education has had its zealots that
saw in the
school system potential to cure all ills. Psychology and
psychiatry have
long (and too long) exaggerated their effectiveness in
solving behavioral
problems. Science in its many forms has been given almost
limitless power
in the minds of our people. They believe that, given enough
time, science
can cure any sickness and solve any problem. However or
whenever it
happened, the idea that life is perfectible by man, and
that we can and
should prevent all calamities, did prevail in the public
mind. Then, at
some point, we began to think that we had done it, that we
had put in
place a great system that, if worked properly, would
prevent all
calamities and cure all ills. The problem is that such a
system has
notbeen put into place, and that such a system cannot be
constructed.
We must come back in our minds to reality. We must return
to the fact
that bad things are done because bad people do them, and
not
fundamentally because the system failed. NO system can
prevent an
individual from making a terrible choice, unless, of
course, that system
amounts to some kind of totalitarianism. Bad things happen
because life
includes unpreventable calamities. The forces of nature,
the flaws in
human nature, the occurrence of human error, and the
possibility of
disaster are always threatening to inflict pain in our
lives. And pain
sometimes cannot be prevented or alleviated. The prophet
Jeremiah (often
called the weeping prophet of the Bible) is recorded as
having once said,
"Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I
said, Truly this is
a grief, and I must bear it." (Jeremiah 10:19)
We must simply bear some instances of grief. No agency can
prevent them.
No specialist can cure them. No amount of money, public or
private, can
make them go away. We must simply endure and bear our grief
with the help
of God.
Americans should go back to believing two great doctrines
once preached
from nearly every pulpit.
- That there is a curse on creation which resulted
from Adam's sin that
is the real source of all misery and pain, and
- That men need to call for divine deliverance in
their experiences with
the troubles of life.
Certainly every effort should be made to prevent disasters
and crimes.
However, we must stop fooling ourselves into thinking that
calamity comes
only when our amazing "system" to prevent it somehow
unexpectedly fails.
Normally, criminals are responsible for their own
destructive behavior.
Usually punishment would be more appropriate than
treatment.
Unfortunately wrong behavior cannot be prevented except by
totalitarian
means, which would spell the end of our freedom. Bad
actions are deterred
by swift and predictable justice and punishment, and better
by proper
home life and religious training. The "system" will never
give us utopia;
it cannot. When the Kingdom comes, God will bring it; only
He can. In the
meantime let us face reality, deal with the wrongs and
troubles of life
sensibly, and stop blaming "the system."
Monthly Article
Thur, 18 Nov1999
by Dr. Rick Flanders
currently Pastor of
Juniata Baptist Church
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Juniata Baptist Church
5656 Washburn Road
Vassar, MI 48768
juniatabaptist@juno.com
(517) 823-7848
|
Dr. Rick Flanders Biographical Data
Converted in 1963 through a radio ministry.
Earned B.A. and M.A. degrees from Bob Jones University.
Honorary D.D. from Pensacola Christian College.
Pastor at Juniata Baptist Church since 1973.
On BCPM Board, (Baptist Church Planting Ministry)
and also MACS. (Michigan Association of Christian School)
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- Articles published in the;
- Sword of the Lord
- Baptist Preacher,
- Frontline,
- Christian View of the News,
- Pulpit Helps,
- Maranatha Watchman
- Church Bus News,
- and other national periodicals.
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